The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

LUMIA 820 with wireless charger. Like. (Photo credit: vernieman)

Nokia's release of specs for 3D printing of the Lumia phone-shell comes with a promise of more. The phone maker envisages a time when phones will be considerably more customizable - throwing down a challenge to Apple and Samsung to move beyond the current design and production paradigm.

The move was announced yesterday on the company's developer blog. Apart from the boon to 3D printing it brings mobile telephony to an interesting fork in the road. After all, what the phone maker is really saying is - we don't want to make and distribute the phones, we want someone local to do that.

So it is a marker for future local production as well and a pivot point for business ecosystems. To date most ecosystems have been software based but clearly there is an appetite t create hardware ecosystems too.

That systemic innovation take Nokia into Apple territory, and suggests Apple is once again slow to make a second major move. Apple revolutionized corporate structures with its massive developer ecosystem, a topic covered here in The Elastic Enterprise.

Here is Nokia's explanation.

"In the future, I envision wildly more modular and customisable phones," he continued. "Perhaps in addition to our own beautifully designed phones, we could sell some kind of phone template and entrepreneurs the world over could build a local business on building phones precisely tailored to the needs of his or her local community. You want a waterproof, glow-in-the-dark phone with a bottle-opener and a solar charger? Someone can build it for you — or you can print it yourself! "

It’s the largest affirmation of 3-D printing by a major corporation thus far, bringing the world of on-demand product generation and customization one step closer to the desktops of consumers worldwide.